Scientists predict All Blacks to grow in strength

Wednesday,
October 19, 2011Scientists predict All
Blacks to grow in strength

The iconic image of
Sonny Bill Williams’ muscles bursting out of his jersey is
a legacy from a Rugby World Cup where the spotlight has been
on physique.

Now Massey University sport scientists have
demonstrated visually how the All Blacks are much bigger
with more muscle mass than their predecessors.

They have
tracked the height and weight of our top players to create a
display on behalf of the University entitled The changing
physique of the All Blacks, 1905-2005, which is housed
in the Rugby Museum in Palmerston North.

The data also
shows a recent trend to the build of players becoming more
uniform, regardless of their position on the field.

The
information, which ranges from 1905 to 2005, was collected
by a team from the School of Sport and Exercise led by
Associate Professor Steve Stannard and lecturer and former
Manawatu rugby player Jeremy Hapeta.

It shows on average,
a team member in the All Blacks in 2005 was 187cm tall, or
12cm taller, than the ‘average’ 1905 Originals player.
His weight, at 102.5kg, was some 7.5kg greater than the
heaviest of the Originals. The lightest player in 2005, at
84kg, was still 3kg heavier than the ‘average’ Original.

Mr Hapeta says while the general population is getting
bigger in terms of ‘quantity’ of mass, which is related
to the global obesity epidemic, the All Blacks are getting
better in terms of ‘quality’ – they are more muscly.
While the average height of the 22-man All Blacks semi final
squad that beat the Wallabies on Saturday was 187.5cm, their
weight was 105kg with another 2.5kg of lean muscle compared
to 2005.

The sport scientists estimated body shape through
the Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation. Mr Hapeta says in
1905 the difference in BMI between players was small with
their physical sizes and shapes all quite similar. “If a
player mislaid his jersey, he could probably borrow a near
fit from a team member,” he says Mr Hapeta.

In the 1985
‘pre-pro’ and 1995 ‘semi-pro’ teams, the variance in
BMI was more than double that of the Originals, meaning that
players were much more varied in shape, probably due to
positioning specialisation. However in 2005 the variation
in BMI is decreasing again with the build of the players
becoming more uniform.

“Traditionally if you were short
you were put in the backs and if you had a puku you were put
in the forwards but that was the amateur game. Now they
want a prototype ‘robo’ rugby player. Guys like Sonny
Bill Williams are evening things up again.”

Mr Hapeta
attributes the reason for growth to fewer childhood
illnesses and better nutrition during the last century,
leading to better health and improved physical
characteristics for future generations. But he says the
professionalism of the game is a key factor in players
getting vastly fitter and larger.

“They are paid to
train and, perhaps more importantly, paid to rest,” says
Mr Hapeta. “Without the competing demands of secondary
employment, they train hard and recover well. They bulk up
at the gym and the best of sports science and nutritional
knowledge is applied to making them bigger, faster and
stronger.”

Mr Hapeta says if the emergent trends are
anything to go by, we are not yet approaching the limits of
the possible.

“We are not going to see the growth spurts
at the level we have seen from 1905 to 2005 – 12cm and
7.5kg – we will not see those sorts of leaps but we could
see them growing by 1-2cm average height and 2-3kg average
weight.”

“You can lay odds that the All Blacks jerseys
of the future will come in yet larger sizes,” he
says.

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